The Memory Screening Test has an interesting history and the only reason
to describe it for the list is the observation that it represents a test
that cannot be normed. I heard about the test indirectly from Charles
Long when traveling back from a conference. He went to a session in
which someone was following a tumor patient using a memory recognition
test in which the examiner would present a card with 6 figures, point to
one and ask the patient to remember that a particular figure had been
indicated. After presenting 15 cards, the examiner then presents the
first card and asks, "Which one of these did I point to before?". The
standard amnesic response is, "You never showed me these before." The
examiner then proceeds through the 15 cards asking the same question.
All the patient has to do is point to, or name the figure indicated on
the first presentation.
The test is eloquent, simple and portable. It was a perfect substitute
for the testing I was doing while following trauma patients in the ICU
and acute hospital setting. I could administer the test every day as
the patient recovered memory. When the patient obtained 13/15 correct,
I would administer a regular memory test and other neuropsych
assessment. The test was "normed" with the Memory Assessment Scales
(MAS). However, after giving it to approx 800 subjects, I observed that
there was no variance among normal subjects. Maybe 10 normal subjects
made an error. A test with no variance among normals cannot be normed.
This was one major factor that encouraged me to rethink how norms are
constructed and what they really mean. This problem of low variance
includes many tests used in neuropsychology. In my experiences with
patients at very low levels of ability, I have come to the realization
that cognition is either "on", and working within normal limits, or
essentially, "off". For example, the idea that memory increases
monotonically with the memory score is a fallacy. There may be major
characterizations of memory disorder that might correspond to levels of
ability but the idea that it increases and decreases monotonically with
a memory score is just incorrect. I also think that the scaling and
construction of conventional norms reifies small differences reinforced
by a bell curve model of ability. The amount of variance in the raw
score describing normal is much smaller than we think. The raw score
levels corresponding to norms are not reported because test publishers
wish to protect their norms. They consider them proprietary. The
scaling of ability using standard scores reinforces the interpretation
that small differences in ability appear large. Compare your memory to
that of Commander Data on Star Trek and you will have an idea of what a
large difference might be. When it comes to memory, a "normal" level is
essentially impaired. If one of the drug companies invented a
medication that improved memory by a standard deviation, I would not be
impressed. iPads, iPhones and continuous internet access have increased
our memory ability much greater.
I made iPad versions of the screening test and the Hahnemann Orientation
and Memory Examination (HOME). These were portable tests I developed to
track trauma patients. The data I collected was reported in Williams,
J. M., (1990). The Neuropsychological Assessment of Traumatic Brain
Injury in the Intensive Care and Acute Care Environment. In C. J. Long,
& L. Ross (Eds.), Traumatic Brain Injury, New York: Plenum.
Mike Williams
P.S. I also sell a beautiful Naming Test that also cannot be normed.
Check Brainmetric.com.
On 12/11/13 11:00 PM, Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
digest wrote:
Subject: Re: Useful Hardware and Software for Computer Lab?
From: Michael Britt<[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2013 06:08:53 -0500
X-Message-Number: 3
Mike,
I'm curious about your Memory Screening Test. The description in iTunes
mentions some norming work that has been done on the test. Do you have any
published research on it?
Michael
Michael A. Britt, Ph.D.
[email protected]
http://www.ThePsychFiles.com
Twitter: @mbritt
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